Driving gear for route or destination indicators



Sept. 2, 1952 e. HAYES DRIVING GEAR FOR ROUTE OR DESTINATION INDICATORS Filed Aug. 28 1950 3. 7 ID1- m 5 9 V. Mal M i; m M 5 a m p I B 6 r m 8 M U h P n 4 U U H 0 0! l 4 0 Z 2 2 3 7/ 0 v 2 H D 6 0 8 I Cr 2 2 P z Patented Sept. 2, 1952 DRIVING GEAR FOR RoU'rE o R DESTINATION INDICATORS George Hayes, Moortown, Leeds, England, as-

signor to G. H. Patents Limited, Leeds, England, a British company, and The Equipment and Engineering 00., Limited, London, England, a

' British company Application August 28, 1950, Serial No. 181,8 15

, wk V I In GreatBritain September 29,1949

I 7 Claims. 1 I This inventionrelates to the driving gears of route or destination indicators of the type in which at least one pair of winding rollers, carrying a blind between them, are adapted'to be driven each in one direction only through the -medium of helical gears from a common driving shaft. 7

Various types of driving gears of the above type have been constructed and the natural end thrust :of the helical gearing has been utilised to selectively operate the winding rollers according to the direction of rotation imparted to'the common driving shaft. Moreover, it has been known to mount each driven pinion on a bearer sleeve through which the short roller driving shaft is passed so that the pinion floats axially on the sleeve for the engagement and disengagement of its clutch members with complementary clutch members carried by the said shaft. It is usual to fix the sleeve in a stationary position and it is known to provide a driving shaft with an extension which passes through the bearer sleeve and is secured thereto.

According to the present invention, there is provided a route or destination indicator driving gear of the kind specified, characterised in that the pinion bearer sleeve has interlocking engagement with its gear housing or other carrier part, to be held against rotation in its required positions Interlocking engagement may be provided by one or more complementary projections and recessesand the sleeve end may be held within a recess. The sleeve receiving recess may be within the housing body or a separate bearingwhich forms partof the housing.

Referring now to the accompanying drawing in which an embodiment of the invention is shown:

Fig. 1 is a part sectional front elevation of the assembled roller driving gears;

Fig. 2 is a part sectional side elevation of one driving ear unit;

Figs. 3 and 4 are respectively an enlarged front elevation of the upper and lower roller driving gears ready for assembly; and

Fig. 5 is a perspective view of a pinion bearer sleeve and bearer plate before assembly.

In the embodiment of this invention shown, an indicator drivin gear unit is constructed in the form of a diecast or other housing 2 with a hole 3 transversely therethrough and a second hole 4 (or recess) therein at right angles to the hole 3. Said hole 3 is recessed at each end to receive the flange 5 of a bearing 6 through which a short operating shaft I passes with a helical driving gear pinion 8 on the shaft lying between the two bearings which hold itagainst axial movement. This hole opens out into the hole 4 so that the said driving gear pinion 8 can mesh with a driven gear pinion 9, located on a bearer sleeve-I0.":=The

latte'r'is' held in a stationary position by being interlocked with one of the removable-bearings I I, each having a flange I2 fitted into a recess in the aforesaid manner for the other two bearings 6. The driving gear, fora route or destination indicator, requires two of these gear units which are almost identical with the exception of the mounting of this drivenpinion 9; In the'one instance, the upper bearer sleeve I0 is interlocked with the inner (left hand) bearing IIin the housing, and in the other instance thelower sleeve is interlocked with the outer (right hand) removable bearin II. Each sleeve III has two notches or keyways- I3 in'on'e' end"'(there maybe only one, or more than two) and the sleevefits into a recess I4 of its associated bearing-II to interlock with complementary radial projections I5 in the recess. In either'ca'se-{the sleeve can .re'adiIyJbe slipped into-position and 'held 'in the required: stationary position during assembly and, when desired, can be removed readily from its stationary position if the unit isdismantled. Each driven pinion has clutch teeth I6. onone end face and these are adaptedto'mesh with complementary teeth I! on a'short'roller driving shaft I8 which passes through the bearer'sleeve III, the end I9 of the roller driving shaft passes out through the inner removable bearing I I and is of square or other construction for driving connection with a blind roller. In both'casesfthe inner end of the roller driving shaft may enter the recess in the right hand bearing II of the housing but, in one case, the lower shaft is surrounded by the sleeve I0 fitted into such hearing but, in the other instance, the end of the shaft itself passes into its bearing II in the end wall of the housing. In both instances the sleeve will form a long bearing. In the upper construction, the clutch teeth on the shaft are at the outer end of the sleeve and bear against it and the outer bearing II, and in the lower construction, the shaft clutch teeth are at the inner end of the sleeve which bears against such teeth and against the inner bearing II in the housing wall. With this arrangement the shaft I8, bearer sleeve Ill and pinion 9 can readily be assembled within the housing, or before location therein, together with the end bearings which will complete the housing and enclose the gear. The various separate bearings 6 and Il may all be pressed into position and secured by crimping the edges of the recesses in the housing. If this is adopted, then the edges of the flanges of the bearings are chamfered oifslightly as shown to facilitate the crimping action.

Instead of a hole 6 being formed in the housing 2 with two separate bearings, a recess may be formed and closed by one bearing. In this in stance the end wall of the recess will serve the same purpose as a removable bearing when'fixed. A pair of units, constructed as above, may be mounted on a fixing plate: 219 in alignment and then joined by a connecting shaft 2| ;slipped.inI

retained end of the bearer sleeve held Within a between the two short operating-shafts l. The driving connection between shafts may comprise a close coil spring pressed onto the adjacent ends Alternatively, the Shaftsmay of the two shafts. be connected by adjacent collars 22, '23 (their ad-- jacent faces may be slightly convex) joinedtogether by pegs 24 enterediinto holes, or equivalent .connecting means. If the rotative driving force .is' to be applied :in line with -the operating shafts r1, ,onexof the latter may beextended by means of 1a .drivingshaftlinked theretothrough a sleeve or ;other. connection. Alternativelmas shown, a furather gearunitifi is interposed betweenthe two raforesaidzgear units with a driving shaftfit leading therefrom: The short shaft 2! of this third rgear lunitzis'connccted up to the'connecting shaft 124 (made. in-two parts) or to the connecting shaft and: .a gear unit shaft 1?. Rotation -may be z-achievedbyiaihandle :28 or other means. With this construction, gear units *in'housings may be constructed as-standard :parts and several units connected-togetherpnia'fixing plate o otherwise I afor: lthewdriven pinion, said sleev .having interdockingiengagement .at oneend with said carrier meansttobe held'againstrotation.

1-2. Driving-gear for roller blind indicators in- :cluding .a gear housing, "a driving shaft and a :roller operating shaftmounted at right angles to ione'another :inzsaid Jhousing, driving and driven engaged bya reverse rotation, a bearer isleeve carrying the driven pinion and surrounding the roller shaft, and complementary projections and recesses which hold the sleeve at one end detachably but firmly mounted in the gear housing.

3. Driving gear according to claim 2, having the retained end of the bearer sleeve held within a recess formed in the wall of the gear housing.

4. Driving gear according to claim 2, having the recess "formed in a separate bearing which forms Y .partof the gear housing.

5; .Drivinggear "according to claim characterized by the bearer sleeve being adapted to be slipped axially into a recess at one end to be held in position temporarily by said recess and against rotation by complementary projections and recessesand :be capable 'of withdrawal when dismantling the gear. 1 r r 6. Drivinggear for roller-blindindicators-comprising a. complete gear unit in a housing with GEORGE HAYES.

REFERENCES .orrsn The following references are of record in the file of this patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name 1 Date 1,064,365 Munsing June 10, 1913 1,301,664 Douglas Apr. 22, 1919 1,394,852 McClure Oct. 25, 1921 FOREIGN PATENTS Number Country Date 228,544 Switzerland, Nov. 16, 1943 564,961 ,Great Britain Oct. 20, 1944 

